Right Kind of Wrong
by snarkycole
Summary: Post-Russkie Business. He was no longer dead to the world, for he was now in love. One-sided LoVe. Probably a terrible summary, but it seemed catchy when I thought of it. Just read and judge for yourself.


**Title:** Right Kind of Wrong  
**Author:** Nicole aka snarkycole  
**Rating:** PG-13, if only for some swearing  
**Summary:** He was no longer dead to the world, for he was now in love.  
**Spoilers:** Everything up to episode 1.15 Russkie Business  
**Disclaimer:** If I owned Veronica Mars, would I really waste this material online? Well, maybe…but I still don't own it.  
**Shout out: **Many thanks to my pal CherylJ for betaing this piece for me, you rock.  
**Notes:** After months of abandonment, my muse finally returned to me only to pester me to write this fic. I must warn you though; this is the first fanfic I've written where there is no use of an original character as my crutch. I hope I don't mutilate any characterization and that this is a half-decent piece. In regard to the title, I couldn't figure a good one out, but then I went through my iTunes list and came across this song and another whose titles I thought fit (not necessarily all the lyrics to the song though). It was a toss up between this and "Tripped on Love," I hope I picked the right one. Anyway, Feedback is like oxygen- vital to survival.

* * *

When life continually deals you a shitty hand, it's hard not to close yourself off from the world. You do your best to harden yourself more than some would deem healthy, never letting anyone in or anything out. No one understands this better than he does. 

He thought he had successfully numbed himself from everything around him the continual stabs his heart has endured in his seventeen years of life thus far. The abuse of a disapproving father, the loss of the love of his life, watching his best friend turn into a shell of his former self, the betrayal of a girlfriend (granted his feelings for Caitlin had not run that deep, but the betrayal had stung nonetheless), and most recently the abandonment of his mother – all have taken chunks of his spirit with them. He has tried to maintain a barrier around his heart, his soul, but day-by-day, she seems to tear down pieces of this strategically crafted wall, without either really realizing it.

She being a girl he used to be friends with, a long time ago. She being the person he had gone out of his way to torment over the past year and a half after she took the side of her father over "their" side. She being the former bane of his existence. She being the one person he found himself truly turning to when he questioned the real circumstance around his mother's apparent suicide. She being the one person he can suddenly see himself ever finding love in again, if this isn't already love he is feeling.

He doesn't know when, why, or exactly how it happened, but one day the realization hit him like a Mack truck; he is falling for this girl. This tiny blonde girl who knows exactly what to say to crawl under his skin and infuriate him, yet she also radiates compassion which can soothe his tormented soul when directed toward him. He doesn't quite understand how this could have happened, though. Mere weeks ago he was barely in like with this girl, yet somehow she has managed to melt away most of the layers of his icy heart by just being around him.

But then, the more he analyzes these irrational feelings that she has been able to provoke from him, the more he realizes they are more logical than he gives them credit for. In a way he can understand why he is drawn to her, after all, they are essentially kindred spirits. They both were hit hard by the death of Lilly Kane, both understand the desertion of a mother, they both are victims of gossip and assumptions, and both use a sharp tongue to ward away anyone who is a threat to them. But at the same time, he knows that she is better than him- although he will never admit that aloud to anyone. See, while they both upheld matching hard exteriors, hers was thinner, and he could see that it was covering a soft center that was often revealed. Even though everything and everyone seemed to have turned their backs on her, she still helps any person that turns to her, greeting them with open arms. Even when that said person had been a loathsome jackass to her. Even when that loathsome jackass is _him_.

But even though there are all those reasons why it is acceptable for him to have these feelings for her, there are a thousand and one reasons why he shouldn't have them, almost literally. **1. **His best friend was her ex-boyfriend. **2.** It is obvious said best friend still had some feelings for her. **3.** It's obvious she still had feelings for his best friend. **4.** His deceased ex-girlfriend, the love of his life, used to be her best friend. **5.** Being with her would remind him too much of Lilly. **6.** He was a 09er, she was not.** 7.** They argued…a lot. **8.** They couldn't stand each other, a factor in point 7. **9.** The heroine and the antagonist are not meant to hook up in the end. **10.** She would try to fix him, but he knew he was beyond repair.

And there were hundreds of more points to that effect until it led to the biggest and potentially most fatal point that discouraged him from doing anything about his feelings: she would never in a million years feel the same way about him. And let's face it, why should she? Just as she had been the bane of his existence, he was the bane of hers. He had gone out of his way to torment and ostracize her. He had thrown salt in her wounds over and over again, and each time he did it he appeared to get a sickening pleasure out of it. And seriously, why the hell would anyone want damaged goods? He had more issues than fucking _Time Magazine_. How the hell could anyone love a psychotic jackass like him? They couldn't, that's how. That's why everyone in his life has left him, whether in the physical or emotional sense, because he is unworthy of love.

"God," he growls loudly, snapping out of his thoughts. "She's turning me into a fucking juvenile."

Logan notices his grip around the pen he was writing with had tightened as he was overcome with a surge of rage, and then suddenly he is hurling the pen across the room, narrowly missing the uninvited guest who had just entered his sanctuary, which is really the pool house turned rec-room in his family's mansion.

"Writer's block that bad, huh?" quips the guest. "Remind me to never be around you when it's time for finals."

At the sound of the familiar voice, he feels some of the tension that has a hold of him dissipate. Before she has a chance to see his writings, he quickly crumples up the list of pros and cons that had manifested from the thoughts that had been bombarding his mind as of late and tucks it into his pocket- a move he is sure will not go unnoticed by the junior detective and cause her to raise an eyebrow, but she does not comment, and he is relieved. He spins his desk chair to face her, greeting her with a smirk

"Hey there, Ronnie," he says, the nickname rolling of his tongue with amusement, knowing very well that Veronica hated it. "Didn't know we had an appointment."

"Didn't know I needed one," she replies tightly.

"Yes, well, I am a very busy man, V. Now, what can I do for you?"

He leans back in his seat and stretches his arms to place his hands behind his head as he waits expectantly for her to get on with her point. He watches her intently as she starts to dig through her purse before she pulls her hand out to reveal an envelope. She closes the space between them and outstretches her hand that had the envelope in it for him to take.

"That's your payment for helping me tie the loose ends on my mother's demise," Logan says to her as he recognizes the envelope as the one he had dropped off at the Mars Investigations' office earlier that afternoon.

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," she replies sarcastically. "I'm here to return it. Again. How many times are we going to have this conversation, Logan? I'm not going to accept any of your money."

"As many times as it takes until you get it through your head that helping me was business, _Veronica_. I was your client, thus the payment."

"I didn't help you for the money. I did it because, once upon a time ago, we used to be friends."

"Yeah, key phrase there being _used to_."

Veronica's eyes narrow in his direction, and he could see he was getting under her skin. And seeing her getting so worked up only makes him want her more.

"Fine," she replies through gritted teeth. "Then think of it as pro bono work."

"I'm not a charity case, Veronica Mars. I'm not one of those poor, defenseless sub-defectives you like to nurse back to health so you can feel better about yourself."

Veronica takes a step back and slightly finches as if the words came in the form of a slap. However, the flash of hurt that revealed itself disappeared quickly and was replaced by cold eyes once again. Defense mechanisms, another thing Logan and she had in common.

"God, you are so impossible. Sometimes I don't even know why I bother," Veronica mutters the second part mostly to herself, but Logan still hears her. She flicks the envelope at him like a Frisbee and then takes a step back. "Save your money, Logan, and consider buying yourself a new personality."

Logan smirks in satisfaction as Veronica turns her heal to walk towards the door, and as he watches his her retreating back, a little voice inside him whispers to go after her. For once, he listens to it.

"Veronica, wait," he calls after her, but she's already at the door and shows no signs of stopping.

It takes him twenty fast strides to catch up with her, and a twenty-first to pull her to stop.

"I'm," he starts to apologize, but falls short. For some reason his larynx can't seem to utter the word 'sorry' as it was rarely used in his vocabulary.

"You're what?" asks Veronica, ripping her arm that had been in his grip, turning quickly to face him. She glared up at him, crossing her arms. "No really, Logan, enlighten me, what exactly are you? Pathetic? An ass? A poor excuse for a-"

Suddenly she's silent because Logan has found a way to render her so. In one swift move he closed the small gap that had been between the two and sent his lips crashing down on hers. One of his hands moves behind her head, entangling itself into her hair, while the other takes hold of her waist to bring her flush up against him. At first she is shell-shocked and unresponsive, as she was caught by surprise, but then when he brushes his tongue against her lower lip, she gasps and opens her mouth. Logan uses this opportunity to explore the inside of her mouth, causing her to whimper slightly. She tastes like coffee, chocolate, and something else of a unique nature, something very Veronica. When he hears her moan softly in pleasure, it elicits a response from not-so-Little Logan.

Slowly, Veronica becomes an active member in the kiss, and she nibbles on his bottom lip for a little bit before doing her own exploring of his mouth. Her once crossed arms are now unfolded, and her hands press against his chest. For the next several moments, all thoughts of rational leave them. The two forget that they're Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls, sworn nemeses, and instead each wonder how they could have survived this long without the other's mouth around to do the wonderful things they were doing. The need for oxygen becomes vital, and just as he was the one to start the kiss, he's the first to break it. First one hand disentangles from her hair as the other leaves her waist, and then his lips are the last things to detach from her.

Both are panting hard, and their lips are bruised and still buzzing from the kiss. Logan takes a step back and runs a nervous hand through his hair. He glances over at Veronica to find her eyes still shut, but they soon begin to flutter open. And then widen. He watches as the realization of what just occurred between the two of them washes over her.

"What was that?" asks Veronica, once she finds her voice again.

"I had to shut you up somehow," Logan replies automatically, and, although he doesn't show it, he instantly regrets it.

Logan sees a look of something flash across her face. Hurt? Disappointment? Annoyance? He wasn't sure.

"Well next time, seek alternative methods," she says after the short pause.

She crosses her arms again and he knows she's waiting for him to strike, to force her to be on the defense. And she stands there in front of him for several moments as she waits for him to say something, anything. He wants more than anything to say something meaningful and poignant that would make her understand all of the feelings he had been bombarded with as of late, but instead he says, "Well, where's the fun in that, Ronnie? How else will I get you all hot and bothered?"

"I am not hot and bothered."

"I think you are," replies Logan with a smug smirk.

"Don't mistake annoyed and pissed off with hot and bothered. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than be in the company of a jackass."  
Veronica once again makes quick for the exit, and Logan watches her retreating form, conflicted about whether he should go after her again. The decision to let her go wins out, as he can't find the energy to pursue her. For a moment he stares in the direction Veronica had exited even though she was long gone as the last few minutes replayed in his mind.

"You really are a fucking idiot, Echolls," he mutters to himself.

He realizes he's standing right at the edge of his pool, so he spreads his arms out wide then freefalls backwards until he is crashing into the pool's cool water. And as he lets the water swallow him whole he decides that tomorrow he'll do something more productive with these _feelings_ he had for Veronica, but today, he'll just drown in his own self-misery, preferable in the company of one Mr. Jack Daniels.

* * *

End. Right now this is a stand alone fic, not sure if a sequel will ever be in order. I am however in the works of writing another Veronica Mars fic with an Original Character added to the mix, but we'll see how that goes. Anyway, so, what did you think? Loved it, hated it? Tell me, please, I live for feedback. 


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